Rivals fear Chelsea's growing power

Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea boss, says he is eating into the markets of Man Utd and Arsenal

SIPPING TEA from a mug that has Star Performer emblazoned on the side of it, Peter Kenyon, chief executive of Chelsea FC, the newly crowned Premier League champions, was in an upbeat mood last week.

The beaming smile and relaxed demeanour seemed at odds with the setbacks he had suffered recently. Less than 48 hours earlier Chelsea had been knocked out of the Uefa Champions League, Europe’s premier football tournament. They were defeated by a controversial Liverpool goal that will be talked about for weeks and remembered for years.

Kenyon’s joviality also flies in the face of a hard season off the pitch in which he has endured a barrage of abuse over alleged attempts to poach players from rival clubs.

First there was the storm over an alleged illegal approach to Arsenal’s Ashley Cole, now the subject of an official inquiry. Then pictures were splashed across the newspapers appearing